"Wishcraft" is a decent slasher but nothing special.
**SPOILERS**
Trying to win Samantha Warren, (Alexandra Holden) the girl of his dreams, Brett Bumpers, (Michael Weston) receives a strange package in the mail that grants wishes. As they start a friendship, several friends in their high school are viciously killed. Detective Sparky Shaw, (Meat Loaf) is assigned to the case, and as more and more bodies pile up, the investigation shows that it's a supernaturally strong killer. As the killer turns to Brett, Samantha and their friend Howie, (A.J. Buckley) with the police on their trail, a secret about who sent the packages and why they're killing the students leads to a final showdown in the woods.
The Good News: This is a really competent slasher film with some rather nice examples of the genre. The best part is the killer, who is one of the more imposing killers around. The killer has decided to go with a black leather coat and a talisman mask. The talisman mask is pretty creepy and the fact that its covered with the hood gives it a little extra. Coupled with the different kills committed during the film, it's the definition of a great killer. The kills, while not being really original, are certainly fun. Having a bowling ball bowled at supernatural speed into a person's face, being strung up on a rope lynch over a streetlight, having a sword lodged in the neck from behind, sliced up with knives, and more in here, so there's some nice kills in here. Those scenes are easily the best part, setting up some really clever and much-needed suspense scenes. The attack in the car is by far the creepiest, using an axe to break windows during an escape, the time when the killer makes it to the car, and pretty much every other trick in the book to make it a really suspenseful scene. The stalking in the house at the end is full of suspenseful, with some great shots that drive up the tension and send it out with a really great high. This wasn't all that bad.
The Bad News: There's still some problems with this one. The main one is that the mixture of the genres in here. When it's a slasher film, it's really on, but when it focuses on the teen-anger aspect, then it becomes agonizing. Watching those scenes are a pain, and feel a little out-of-place in a slasher film. You don't want to waste over forty minutes of time dealing with a hokey-devised romance subplot when there's the knowledge that a killer is on the loose, especially since all the killings up to that point are all creative and exciting. The scenes in the school wandering through the hallways talking about their relationship and the small little insets here and there really could've been cut out and wouldn't have made any impact whatsoever. The killer's motive also could've used some work, as it's very clichéd and doesn't really do much to give them much of a back-story and it's just downright pathetic. It could've been fixed, and makes it all the more likely that it would've been decent.
The Final Verdict: When it's a slasher film, this really work ad works well, but it's interrupted by moments of boredom when the teen angle side is pursued. Incredibly tolerant slasher fans will be the most impressed with this, while those into the teen-romance angle might be bored stiff with it.
Rated R: Violence, Language and mild drug use
**SPOILERS**
Trying to win Samantha Warren, (Alexandra Holden) the girl of his dreams, Brett Bumpers, (Michael Weston) receives a strange package in the mail that grants wishes. As they start a friendship, several friends in their high school are viciously killed. Detective Sparky Shaw, (Meat Loaf) is assigned to the case, and as more and more bodies pile up, the investigation shows that it's a supernaturally strong killer. As the killer turns to Brett, Samantha and their friend Howie, (A.J. Buckley) with the police on their trail, a secret about who sent the packages and why they're killing the students leads to a final showdown in the woods.
The Good News: This is a really competent slasher film with some rather nice examples of the genre. The best part is the killer, who is one of the more imposing killers around. The killer has decided to go with a black leather coat and a talisman mask. The talisman mask is pretty creepy and the fact that its covered with the hood gives it a little extra. Coupled with the different kills committed during the film, it's the definition of a great killer. The kills, while not being really original, are certainly fun. Having a bowling ball bowled at supernatural speed into a person's face, being strung up on a rope lynch over a streetlight, having a sword lodged in the neck from behind, sliced up with knives, and more in here, so there's some nice kills in here. Those scenes are easily the best part, setting up some really clever and much-needed suspense scenes. The attack in the car is by far the creepiest, using an axe to break windows during an escape, the time when the killer makes it to the car, and pretty much every other trick in the book to make it a really suspenseful scene. The stalking in the house at the end is full of suspenseful, with some great shots that drive up the tension and send it out with a really great high. This wasn't all that bad.
The Bad News: There's still some problems with this one. The main one is that the mixture of the genres in here. When it's a slasher film, it's really on, but when it focuses on the teen-anger aspect, then it becomes agonizing. Watching those scenes are a pain, and feel a little out-of-place in a slasher film. You don't want to waste over forty minutes of time dealing with a hokey-devised romance subplot when there's the knowledge that a killer is on the loose, especially since all the killings up to that point are all creative and exciting. The scenes in the school wandering through the hallways talking about their relationship and the small little insets here and there really could've been cut out and wouldn't have made any impact whatsoever. The killer's motive also could've used some work, as it's very clichéd and doesn't really do much to give them much of a back-story and it's just downright pathetic. It could've been fixed, and makes it all the more likely that it would've been decent.
The Final Verdict: When it's a slasher film, this really work ad works well, but it's interrupted by moments of boredom when the teen angle side is pursued. Incredibly tolerant slasher fans will be the most impressed with this, while those into the teen-romance angle might be bored stiff with it.
Rated R: Violence, Language and mild drug use